create-express-application/utils/setupProject.js

CLI tool to scaffold a boilerplate Express.js application

const fs = require("fs");
const path = require("path");
const { execSync } = require("child_process");
const jsTemplate = require("../templates/jsTemplate");
const tsTemplate = require("../templates/tsTemplate");
const { createFolders, createExampleFiles } = require("./structureHelpers");

function setupProject(projectName, language, useDotenv, initGit) {
  const isTS = language === "TypeScript";
  const projectDir = path.join(process.cwd(), projectName);

  if (fs.existsSync(projectDir)) {
    console.error(
      "❌ Directory already exists. Please choose a different name."
    );
    process.exit(1);
  }

  fs.mkdirSync(projectDir);
  process.chdir(projectDir);

  console.log("📦 Initializing npm...");
  execSync("npm init -y", { stdio: "inherit" });

  console.log("📥 Installing Express and CORS...");
  execSync("npm install express cors", { stdio: "inherit" });

  if (useDotenv) {
    execSync("npm install dotenv", { stdio: "inherit" });
  }

  if (isTS) {
    execSync(
      "npm install -D typescript ts-node-dev @types/node @types/express @types/cors",
      { stdio: "inherit" }
    );
  }

  fs.writeFileSync(".gitignore", "node_modules\ndist\n.env\n");

  fs.writeFileSync(
    "README.md",
    `# ${projectName}

> Created with [create-express-app](https://github.com/your-org/create-express-app)

## 📦 Setup

\`\`\`bash
npm install
npm run dev
\`\`\`

## 📁 Folder Structure

- \`controllers/\` – Route handlers
- \`routes/\` – Route definitions
- \`middlewares/\` – Custom Express middleware
- \`models/\` – Data models or types
- \`utils/\` – Utility/helper functions

## ✅ Features

- Express.js
- CORS
- ${useDotenv ? "dotenv support" : "No dotenv"}
- ${isTS ? "TypeScript" : "JavaScript"}

`
  );

  fs.writeFileSync(
    ".eslintrc.json",
    JSON.stringify(
      {
        env: { node: true, es2021: true },
        extends: ["eslint:recommended"],
        parserOptions: { ecmaVersion: "latest", sourceType: "module" },
        rules: {},
      },
      null,
      2
    )
  );

  fs.writeFileSync(
    ".prettierrc",
    JSON.stringify(
      {
        semi: true,
        singleQuote: true,
        tabWidth: 2,
        trailingComma: "es5",
      },
      null,
      2
    )
  );

  if (initGit) {
    console.log("🔧 Initializing Git repository...");
    execSync("git init", { stdio: "inherit" });
    execSync("git add .", { stdio: "inherit" });
    execSync('git commit -m "Initial commit"', { stdio: "inherit" });
  }

  const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("package.json"));

  if (isTS) {
    console.log("🔧 Setting up TypeScript...");
    const tsConfig = {
      compilerOptions: {
        target: "ES6",
        module: "commonjs",
        rootDir: "./src",
        outDir: "./dist",
        esModuleInterop: true,
        strict: true,
      },
    };
    fs.writeFileSync("tsconfig.json", JSON.stringify(tsConfig, null, 2));

    pkg.scripts = {
      dev: "ts-node-dev --respawn --transpile-only src/index.ts",
      build: "tsc",
      start: "node dist/index.js",
    };

    fs.mkdirSync("src");
    createFolders("src", true);
    createExampleFiles("src", true);
    fs.writeFileSync("src/index.ts", tsTemplate(useDotenv));
  } else {
    pkg.scripts = {
      dev: "node --watch --watch-path=src src/index.js",
      start: "node src/index.js",
    };

    fs.mkdirSync("src");
    createFolders("src", false);
    createExampleFiles("src", false);
    fs.writeFileSync("src/index.js", jsTemplate(useDotenv));
  }

  fs.writeFileSync("package.json", JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2));

  if (useDotenv) {
    fs.writeFileSync(".env", "PORT=3000\n");
  }

  console.log("\n✅ Project created successfully!");
  console.log(`👉 cd ${projectName}`);
  console.log("👉 npm run dev");
}

module.exports = { setupProject };